Payday lenders, which issue short-term, high-interest loans, are likely celebrating recent changes in Washington leadership. This includes the election of Donald Trump. In two months, industry members will gather for their annual retreat at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida.

Perhaps they’ll drink a toast to the exodus of Richard Cordray, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. After years of pressure from Republicans, he resigned in November.

Cordray took seriously the bureau's mission to protect average people from bad actors in the financial industry. He responded to wrongdoing with fines, lawsuits and new regulations, which made him unpopular with some businesses and politicians.

Now there’s a new game in town.

Trump appointed Mick Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman, to assume temporary control of the CFPB. Instead of looking out for consumers, he is intent on helping lenders offering “cash advances” and “check loans” in low-income neighborhoods across the country. These are the same entities that charge interest rates as high as 390 percent and employ illegal and deceptive practices, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Mulvaney is a good friend to payday lenders. He has been busy doing favors for them during the short time in his new job.

He recently put the brakes on a rule crafted under Cordray to ensure payday lenders establish a process for determining an applicant's ability to repay a loan. Mulvaney ended a case being pursued against a Kansas lender accused of charging interest rates of nearly 1,000 percent. He halted an investigation into the marketing and lending practices of a corporation that contributed to his congressional campaign.

It’s easy to get a lot done when your work consists of destruction. Say goodbye to the countless hours bureau employees dedicated to trying to create a fair lending climate for consumers. The new boss isn't interested.

And the payday lenders are thrilled.

In Iowa, 23 companies hold licenses for 152 locations offering “delayed deposit services,” better known as payday lending, according to the Iowa Division of Banking. In 2016, these businesses made 688,296 loans totaling $256,533,781.

The average Iowa customer obtained approximately 12 loans from the same lender in 2017 and many had 20 or more. The amount borrowed averaged $342 for 17 days and came with a $43 finance charge and an annual percentage interest rate of 273 percent.

It is expensive to be poor. Especially in Iowa, where lawmakers have refused to impose restrictions on these businesses. A 2014 study from The Pew Charitable Trusts lists Iowa among the states considered “permissive,” defined as the least regulated and allowing exorbitant annual percentage rates.

The Iowa Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds should act to protect Iowans, because help will not be coming from Washington anytime soon.

Meanwhile, customers of payday lenders don’t only incur hefty fees and interest rates. They may have their checking accounts closed if balances are too low to cover automatic withdrawals from the lenders. They take out new payday loans to pay off existing ones. They may be hounded by collectors years after they repay a debt.

In August, the FTC charged a North Carolina operation with using intimidation and deception to take money from consumers for “phantom debts.” Defendants tried to portray themselves as law firms, threatening legal action for delinquency on debts, including payday loans, consumers did not owe.

Payday lenders are not benevolent financial life-preservers. And they are not necessary, as evidenced by more than a dozen states that do not permit them or have capped interest rates on loans to eliminate them.

Government should try to protect Americans from predatory practices, not protect predators.